Indian
equity benchmarks continued their losing trend for the second straight session
on Thursday and closed with losses of over 2.5% as fears over slower economic
growth due to rising inflation harmed investor sentiment.

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The Nifty50 has formed a bearish candle on the daily
chart, hinting at more weakness ahead, according to Shrikant Chouhan, Head of
Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities. 

“A quick pullback rally is not ruled out if the
50-scrip index succeeds to trade above 15,700,” he said.

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Indian Indices

Sensex fell 1,416.30 points or 2.61% to 52,792.23 and
Nifty was down by 430.90 points or 2.65% to 15,809.40 in the previous session.
Sensex touched a high and low of 53,356.04 and 52,669.51, respectively. There
were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index. Nifty traded
in a range of 15,984.75 and 15,775.20. There were 3 stocks advancing against 47
stocks declining on the index.

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Broader Indices

The broader indices ended in red with the BSE Midcap
index falling 2.66%, while the Small cap index was up by 2.29%. The top losing
sectoral indices on the BSE IT down by 5.25%, TECK down by 5.11%, Metal down by
4.23%, Telecom down by 3.46% and Basic Materials down by 2.81%, while there
were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

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India VIX Index

Nifty or India VIX, a gauge of the market’s expectation
of volatility over the near term, jumped 2.26% to 24.56 on Thursday.

SGX Nifty

The trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for
the index in India with a 35-points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 15,984.20 on the Singaporean Exchange around 06:50 hours IST.

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Support and Resistance levels

The key support level for the Nifty is placed at 15,728,
followed by 15,647. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch
out for are 15,938 and 16,066, according to pivot charts.

US Markets

The S&P 500 fell 22.89 points, or 0.6%, to 3,900.79.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 236.94 points, or 0.8%, to 31,253.13.

The Nasdaq fell 29.66 points, or 0.3%, to 11,388.50.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 1.38 points, or 0.1%, to 1,776.22.

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Asian Markets

Asian markets finished mostly lower on Thursday. The
Nikkei 225 fell 1.89% and the Hang Seng fell 2.54%. The Shanghai Composite
gained 0.36%.

European Markets

European markets are lower yesterday with shares in
Germany off the most. The DAX was down 0.90% while France’s CAC 40 was off
1.26% and London’s FTSE 100 was lower by 1.82%.

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Major News Headlines

Godrej Consumer Q4 net profit declines marginally to Rs
363 crore

Indian FMCG major Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL)
reported a marginal decline in consolidated profit after tax at Rs 363.24 crore
for the March quarter of fiscal 2022. The company had posted a consolidated
profit after tax of Rs 365.84 crore in the year-ago period. Consolidated
revenue from operations during the March 2022 quarter stood at R 2,915.82 crore
compared with Rs 2,730.74 crore in the year-ago period. For the full financial
year ended March 31, 2022, the company reported a consolidated profit after tax
of Rs 1,783.39 crore as against Rs 1,720.82 crore in the previous financial
year. Consolidated total revenue from operations in fiscal 2022 stood at Rs
12,276.5 crore as against Rs 11,028.62 crore in the previous financial year.
GCPL Managing Director and CEO Sudhir Sitapati said, “We delivered a weak
performance in Q4, FY 2022. Overall sales grew by 7% and our full-year sales
grew in double-digits. However, this growth was driven by pricing.” GCPL
said during the March quarter, India sales grew by 9% to Rs 1,604 crore but
volume declined by 3%.

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Ashok Leyland’s Q4 net profit rises 274% to Rs 901 crore,
and revenue rises 25% 

Hinduja Group’s flagship Ashok Leyland reported a 274%
year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit at Rs 901.4 crore for the fourth quarter
of fiscal 2022. Total income came in at Rs 8,744.3 crore during the March quarter,
up 24.9% against Rs 7,000.5 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous
fiscal. Its truck market share for the reported quarter rose to 30.6% against 28.9%
in March 2021 quarter, this is the highest market share seen in the last 11
quarters.

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HPCL Q4 net profit declines 40%, announces final dividend
of Rs 14 per share

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) reported a
40% decline in net profit in the March quarter of the financial year 2021-22 as
higher refining margins were wiped away by losses on auto fuel sales. Net
profit stood at Rs 1,795.26 crore in March 2022 quarter compared with Rs
3,017.96 crore in the year-ago period. HPCL has recommended a final dividend of
Rs 14 per share for the financial year 2021-22.

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Investors lose over Rs 6.71 trillion as markets crash
amid inflation worries

Equity investors lost over Rs 6.71 trillion on Thursday,
May 19, 2022, as domestic benchmark indices tumbled amid a global market
meltdown. The BSE Sensex tumbled 1,416.30 points or 2.61% to settle at
52,792.23, following weak global markets and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Ami weak market trend, the market capitalization of BSE-listed firms plunged by
Rs 6,71,051.73 crore to stand at Rs 2,49,06,394.08 crore.

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Bulk Deal data

ALPHA LEON ENTERPRISES LLP sold 17,17,674 shares in
Integra Essentia Limited at Rs 0.17 per share on the NSE.

VISHESH GUPTA sold 33,82,271 shares in Integra Essentia
Limited at Rs 0.19 per share on the NSE.

ANUSTUP TRADING PRIVATE LIMITED sold 58,54,647 shares in
KBC Global Limited at Rs 4.99 per share as per NSE.

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GOUTAM CHORARIA sold 1,49,312 shares in Kshitij Polyline
Limited at Rs 28.00 per share as per NSE.

NEELAM NYATI bought 51,326 shares in Kshitij Polyline
Limited at Rs 29.64 per share as per NSE.

PALASH BANERJEE bought 1,44,646 shares in Kshitij
Polyline Limited at Rs 28.00 per share as per NSE.

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DII and FII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth
a net Rs 4,899.92 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought
shares worth a net Rs 3225.54 crore in the Indian equity market on May 19, as
per provisional data available on the NSE.

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NSE F&O Ban

Delta Corp, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers &
Chemicals Ltd, Indiabulls Housing Finance, and Punjab National Bank are under
the F&O ban for May 20. Securities in the ban period under the F&O
segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the
market-wide position limit.